Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff; Coliseum, LondonVerdi had something of a father fixation – as witnessed in new productions of two of his lesser-known works
Fathers and sons, fathers and daughters. When Verdi gets a thing about dads you know it will not end well. New productions of Verdi’s lesser-known works staged last week by two of our national companies – Les vêpres siciliennes at Welsh National Opera and Luisa Miller at English National Opera – revolve entirely around father figures, so straight away we could kiss goodbye to happy-ever-after. If only some mothers were allowed an appearance...
Verdi said that writing Les vêpres was such an effort it “would kill a bull”. He was struggling to complete the heavy demands of his first major commission for
Paris, where five acts were expected, complete with sweeping spectacle and extensive ballet. With such unwieldy material, the work is rarely seen, so WNO’s decision to close its Verdi trilogy with a co-production with Theatre Bonn was a distinctly brave one, financially and artistically. It’s not an easy piece to love.